August, 2011

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Oxford: around and about

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Here we have a bit of a mixture of shots from the same roll of film. I was trying out a new type of film, Kodak Portra 160 rated at 100 and then processed normally. The first two images are of my daughter, the colour difference is down to me testing different scanning software. I prefer the one on the left made with Silverfast SE. Over the past few years I’ve made so many images of Nya with digital but recently I’ve mainly been using film. There’s something wonderful about having images of Nya on physical media compared to bits and bytes on hard drives.

All shots made with a Mamiya 645 1000S and 80mm/2.8 lens.

Nya loves swings

A student from Taiwan with his mum's old Nikon FM and 50/1.4 lens. This is the first SLR camera that a dear friend of mine (thank you Susie Barker) handed me in 1986 to use. How many DSLR's will be in use 25 years from now?

Worn out bicycle

I never tire of photographing this worn out bicycle.

old peugeot bicycle

I've got a thing for photographing beaten up bikes

MG car

These buildings have been marked for redevelopment in the next month. More student accommodation, more people for me to photograph. I like the red and black in this scene..

Dulux dog

I don't usually stop anyone that isn't an adult because of how controversial photographing children can be. On this occasion I thought this guy looked so cool waiting with his dog so I decided to ask him. I like how his trousers match the colour of the stone and the blue signs echo his top.

Chandilier and sun rays

Window display in vintage furniture store Liscious, Walton street, Oxford.

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Oxford: Street portraits

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Regular visitors to this blog will have noticed a huge difference in the design and layout. This is because I received so many comments about how difficult the old design was to navigate.

Here are the first images from a new lens (110mm/2.8) I got for my Mamiya RZ67.

Celebrating the end of exams

I'm always attracted to cool looking sunglasses. You can see me on the left.

Fellow photographer and work colleague, Martin. He used to be the lead singer and guitarist in one of Oxford's biggest bands in the 80's, TARGA. Not a lot of people know that.

Ice-cream seller, Radcliffe square.

Artist

Street style, Broad street, Oxford.

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Oxford: Street portraits

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

I love Oxford in the summer, especially the warm evening light when the sun starts to drop and there are nice long shadows everywhere. It’s been quite a while since I had the time to do street photography in the evenings so I’m pleased I have some free time at the moment to make the most of the summer evenings and light.

These images are from one of the first rolls of colour negative film that I developed myself. I’ve been putting it off until now because I thought it would be more difficult than it was.

[Tech info:] All of these images are from the same roll of Kodak Portra 400 film inside a Mamiya RZ67 camera with a 110/2.8 lens.

russian students

Two Russian students on the steps of the Clarendon Building, Broad Street, Oxford.

I really like this young lady’s vintage look, especially the fur coat. There’s a movie star quality about her. I had seen her during some of my lunch hour sessions but she always seemed to be on the other side of the road or in a hurry. Hopefully I can photograph her again.
A photographer holding a Yashica twin lens reflex camera

Another fellow film photographer whom I met during a Flickr meet up in University Parks.

This was part of a test shoot with Mayumi who I've photographed before. I wanted to test out a new lens and film.

A man wearing a trilby hat

On my way home one evening I passed this gentleman on Cornmarket street, I really liked how smartly dressed he was. I never go along Cornmarket street during my street photography sessions because of the shops the line both sides of the street and the sheer volume of people you find along there that makes it impossible to photograph anyone. At this time of the evening it was much emptier. I'm pleased with how the background doesn't show the shops very clearly.

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Brussels: Street portraits

Friday, August 19th, 2011

A few weeks ago I went to Antwerp and Brussels with my family for a holiday. I took only film cameras with me, hoping to do lots of photography, especially street portraits but the weather wasn’t always on our side so I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. Overall I shot more colour than black & white but I haven’t developed any of the colour yet.

[Tech info]: Mamiya M645 1000S loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, exposed at ISO 400 and developed in HC110 for 13mins at 20C.

Fellow photographer and huge inspiration, Jan Scholz.

Backlit portrait

This gentleman said he didn't usually like being photographed but was kind enough to oblige. He was backlit by the sun and I liked how the flare looked.

Evening sunlit portrait

There was no shade around so the harsh evening sunlight is not very flattering here.

A man watching the sun go down

This gentleman was watching the sun setting as it made its way down to the horizon.

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Oxford: Summer 8’s 2011 (part V)

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Here are some images from the colour films that I shot during Summer VIII’s 2011. The delay in posting these was because of the expense of posting one or two rolls away for developing. It’s much more economical to send off a batch of film but as I mostly use b&w film it’s taken me a while to use up enough rolls of colour for a batch.

In the coming weeks I intend to start developing my own colour film so look forward to seeing some of my results. I have the chemicals ready, I just need some spare time. More colour images from Summer VIII’s coming soon.

[Tech info:] Camera: Pentax 67, film: Kodak Ektar 100.

Cheer leaders practicing

Cheer leader practice. Between two of the college boathouses I noticed this group of cheer leaders practicing. It looked quite bizarre with all of the rowing going on behind me.

Alice in Wonderland cast

Curiouser and curiouser

watching the rowing

Spectators

Photographer using a Nikon F90X camera

Another film photographer. I had an enjoyable chat about film photography with this photographer. The camera was in mint condition and had belonged to his mother. I still own and use the previous model that I bought in 1992.

Cup cake stall

Cup cakes for sale.

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Normal service has resumed

Monday, August 8th, 2011

I’m back after almost a month of no posts. I must apologise to regular viewers of this blog and I hope you didn’t think I’d abandoned you. Truth be told I’ve been busier than ever with my photography but I haven’t had much time to develop and scan the films that I’ve been amassing in my fridge.

The good news is there will be a good supply of images appearing on this blog in the coming weeks as I feverishly work away at clearing the backlog. Yesterday 5 rolls of colour neg (C41) films arrived back from the lab and amongst those are shots from Eights Week that I’ve been looking forward to seeing. Over the next few weeks I am going to try my hand at developing my own colour neg films which will be a first for me. I have the chemicals ready but once I mix them they are only good for a week so I’ve been steadily building up a stock pile of films to develop.

Below are images from early July from a new camera format for me. The 645 format is 6cm wide by 4.5cm tall and is approximately 2.5 times larger than 35mm. The nice thing is the camera is smaller and more compact than my 6×7 cameras and I get 15 shots on a roll compared to 10. The downside is it takes me longer to finish the roll before I can develop it.

[Tech info]: Shot on Fuji Acros 100 film with a Mamiya M645 1000S. Developed in Kodak HC110 developer.

Lunch on the steps of the Clarendon Building

Pasties and coke

Divinity Schools quad

Divinity Schools quad, Oxford. This was shot in harsh midday sun with this gentleman being lit from behind. This is a perfect example of the amazing dynamic range of film.

St. Giles, Oxford.

Little Clarendon Street, Oxford. This gentleman said 'don't put my picture on Facebook!'. Lucky for him I don't put any of my images on Facebook.

 

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